LINGAYEN, Pangasinan—The Provincial Government of Pangasinan, through the Center for Pangasinan Studies (CPS), held the 2023 International Conference on Pangasinan and Bulosan Studies (ICPBS) with the theme, “Expanding the Frontiers of Knowledge on Pangasinan” last November 27 to 29, 2023 at the Sison Auditorium, Lingayen, Pangasinan and at the Ramon J. Guico, Sr. Sports and Civic Center, Binalonan, Pangasinan.
With 145 accepted abstract submissions and over 500 participants from different higher education institutions (HEIs) in Pangasinan and alongside various organizations and agencies all over the country, the event focused on five (5) plenary presentations: Internationalization on Higher Education, Contextualizing Pangasinan Studies, Health Service Delivery at the Time of the Pandemic and Post-COVID Reflections, Carlos Bulosan, and Lessons from Carlos Bulosan: Anti-Asian Racism is a Global Relation. The conference also featured a total of 32 panel sessions, each focusing on various topics and themes such as Environment, Healthcare, Artisanal Industries, Education-Teaching and Learning, Economics, Local History and Heritage, Pandemic and the “New Normal,” Human-Environment Interactions, Technology, Local Products, Readings and Teachings of Carlos Bulosan, among others.
The conference aimed to cultivate dialogue and linkage in promoting interest and heightened awareness about the province of Pangasinan and its people; convene stakeholders, advocates, practitioners, scholars, and researchers engaged in the multi- and interdisciplinary study of development, arts and culture, literature and language, history, education, tourism, trade, governance, health, and business economics of Pangasinan from its past and in contemporary perspectives; strengthen practitioners, stakeholders, and scholars’ collaboration with partner institutions in the region, and enhance academic exchanges with other international academic, development, and non-governmental institutions and to bring these closer to the Pangasinan locale and the global community in general. Further, it was also held in commemoration of the 110th birth anniversary of Carlos Bulosan, a son of Binalonan, Pangasinan. The conference provided a venue for the dissemination of knowledge on Bulosan’s life and works as a global literary and social movement icon.
Related to this, Executive Order No. 0137 was issued, “Creating the Executive Committee and Technical Working Group for the 2023 International Conference on Pangasinan and Bulosan Studies.”
Atty. Ronn Dale Castillo, Executive Assistant welcomed the participants while Dr. Perla E. Legaspi, CPS Executive Director and Convenor of the ICPBS 2023, presented the conference overview.
“… There are three gifts that young people can find when reading any work from Bulosan: one is the gift of literacy; two is the gift of historical memory; and three is the gift of rootedness, and these three gifts are intertwined and interconnected in the work of Carlos Bulosan…” Dr. Jeffrey Cabusao said while delivering his keynote speech.
The conference’s 5 plenary presentations were discussed as follows: Internationalization on Higher Education by CHED Regional Director Dr. Christine N. Ferrer; Contextualizing Pangasinan Studies by Dr. Ma. Crisanta Nelmida-Flores; Health Service Delivery at the Time of the Pandemic and Post-COVID Reflections by Dr. Francisco T. Duque III; Carlos Bulosan and Binalonan by Veronica Sison; and Lessons from Carlos Bulosan: Anti-Asian Racism is a Global Relation by Dr. Michael Joseph Viola.
“There are two reasons why we are here in Binalonan now. I’d like to believe not only because this is the birthplace of the great Carlos Bulosan but I also believe it’s more because it’s in this place where the promise of a better future of the entire Pangasinan, in fact of the entire province, of the entire country can be seen,” Dr. Raymundo Rovillos, co-convenor, stated in his closing remarks.
/JBT
Photos: RSR & KFC
